


Professor Son

by Lethotep



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Different POV'S each chapter, Gen, Gohan-centric, Mental Health Issues, Nerd Son Gohan, Original characters named through line-of-sight, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Outsider, Therapy, discussions about Hybrid genetics, playing loose with super canon, probably the fluffiest thing I've ever written but that doesn't mean much with my track record, professor gohan, scientist Gohan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:34:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23127106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lethotep/pseuds/Lethotep
Summary: Gohan is a seemingly unassuming university professor at Satan University. He wears bright clashing colours and is known around campus as a very helpful and genuine teacher.A series of moments from Gohan's daily life as a maths and biochemistry professor at Satan University, from the perspective of his students, colleagues and his therapist.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Videl Satan/Son Gohan
Comments: 52
Kudos: 131





	1. The New Students

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I love outsider pov stories, and I've been thinking about Gohan lately. Next thing I knew I started writing this. Will be switching between different outsider POV's every chapter.

Qalc waved when he saw the familiar shape of his friend Penne’s long snout from across the library, she caught the motion immediately and waved back with a doggish grin, changing her path and heading towards him.

“Hey man,” She grinned as she dropped her bag down heavily and pulled out a seat, “Did you see your new schedule yet, they sent out the emails last night.”

Qalc nodded, opening his laptop to pull it up, “Yeah I saw the email, do we have any lectures together this semester?”

Penne pulled a print out of her schedule from her bag, “We both have Cellular Biology and Biochem 111 and Structure and Reactivity in Chem and Biochem 121 this semester, so maybe them depending on what timeslot, you weren’t in Maths 102 with me last time, so I’m assuming you’re starting it this term?”

Qalc nodded, “Yeah, I was getting that compulsory Social Studies course out of the way instead last semester, I’m planning on doing 103 over the Summer since I'll be around, so I decided that putting it off wouldn’t matter in the long run. I'm guessing you’re taking the Social course this time instead?”

She nodded, “Yeah, is there anything I should know about the course?”

He shrugged, “Not really, it’s just the basic ‘Ethics in Science’ and ‘Don’t become another Doctor Gero’ kinda stuff they try to make stick on science students these days. And it's just attendance based, not graded. The lecturer was fine, she’s really easy to get going on a tangent and next thing you know the hour’s gone. How about Maths 102?”

Penne gave a small growl, “They have two lecturers for it, If you get Professor Flag transfer out as soon as you can, it’s not worth it. She _brags_ on the first day about how much smarter she is than anyone in her class and makes her low pass rate a point of pride. She’s a waste of time and student loan, and I regret waiting for a full month in before I made up an excuse to switch to the other Maths 102 course.” 

Qalc scrolled through his schedule in concern, “I don’t have a Professor Flag it looks like, I’ve got a Professor Son?”

Penne’s mood flipped instantly, and Qalc could hear her tail smacking against her chair, “Oh! You got Gohan, seriously dude you got so lucky! He’s the best! I mean, he’s also a _total_ dork, but like, I swear I knew nothing when I finally shifted to his class and was convinced I’d have to drop out, but he really cares about making sure everyone is able to do their best, seriously - take him up on his open-door policy if you get stuck on anything, he never makes you feel stupid for even the dumbest questions.”

Penne looked around conspiratorially before adding in a stage whisper, “And you won’t _believe_ who he’s married to!”

Qalc frowned, he could never understand the appeal of gossiping about professors, outside of a level of productive exchange of relevant school-related things that is, so he replied flatly, “Is it important?”

Penne grinned, “Only if you think Videl Satan is important.”

Qalc felt his face warm-up, Penne was probably the only person who knew about his childhood crush on the daughter of the Saviour of the World, and hearing her name shorted out his brain for a moment before he actually realised what Penne said.

“You’re kidding me…”

She grinned again, “Nope! She stops by his office sometimes, maybe you can finally get that autograph you told me you’ve been dreaming of since you were 12.”

Qalc felt his face colour even more. He regretted ever getting drunk and spilling that to her last semester while they’d sat on the curb outside the house party they’d been kicked out of at three in the morning. How the hell she'd even remembered it after that night he had no idea.

“You’ve known about this for _how long_ and you never told me?” Qalc hissed at her, forcing his embarrassment down and covering it with anger instead, “Why didn’t you bring this up before? You could have grabbed me when she was around and I could have actually met her in person!”

She shrugged, “She was just dropping their kid off with him the one time I saw her, she wasn’t really here long enough to do that and then I just kind of forgot about it until now.”

“How did you managed to forget something like that?”

“Hey, not all of us obsess over celebrities,” she shrugged as she pushed past him, grabbed his laptop from in front of him to compare the rest of their classes.

“Hey! Ask first,” he yelped at her grabbing it back, “I don’t need to spend another afternoon getting your fur out of my keyboard again.”

"Rude!" She mock cried as it was pulled from her paws.  
  


* * *

  
  


Qalc walked into the lecture hall not knowing what to expect from the man married to his childhood crush, but he grabbed a seat in the front on the right side of the lecture hall near the door like he always did (best place to see the front, out of the direct line of sight of the lecturer and easy to escape at the end before the crowds blocked the exit) and pulled out some graph paper while he waited, doodling geometric patterns and ignoring those pouring in around him.

The lecture hall was buzzing with conversations, which finally came to a hush as a friendly-faced man with short jet-black hair and thick-rimmed glasses made his way to the lecturer’s desk.

He was wearing a checkered button-up, buttoned all the way up in fact. And a sweater vest. He even had a bowtie on. Not one colour of any of the items in question matched. Everything about him just screamed out that he was a nerd, but the confidence he carried himself with and his open, smiling face as he faced the lecture theatre spoke just as clearly that he was perfectly happy with that fact.

“Good morning class!” He said with a small bow towards them.

How old fashioned, Qalc couldn't help but think to himself.

“I’m Professor Son, but feel free to call me Gohan if you like. We are all adults here after all! And as I’m sure you all know, this course is the first of the two required first-year Mathematics classes for those wanting to go into Engineering and the Sciences, and I understand that some of you are only here because it is a requirement before you get into your field of choice. But that doesn’t mean it has to be something to suffer through! I also teach a few of the higher-level courses and if you’re planning on going into Biochemistry in the future I’m sure we’ll see each other again in years to come as well.”

Professor Son wrote his name, his university email address and office number on the large smartboard and enlarged the text so it was visible to everyone.

“If you have any trouble with any of the work we cover, feel welcome to drop in during my office hours, my door is always open. Outside of office hours, you can email me with your questions and I’ll do my best to get back to you as soon as I can.”

Qalc analysed the man in front of him with sharp eyes. Penne hadn’t been lying about him wanting the best for his students it seemed. Then again a _lot_ of lecturers started out by pretending they cared and then never turned up to their own office hours, or only helped out their favourites.

Still, on a more petty level, Qalc was trying to see what someone like Videl Satan, martial artist and a hero in her own right, could see in someone like this.

Qalc was pretty sure he was taller than the Professor too.

He knew he was being petty, but he'd always thought Videl would have married someone, well… cooler.

He remembered when she and Saiyaman had been the headline news on a near-weekly basis when he was a kid. And while a lot of people had made fun of Saiyaman, Qalc had always thought his confidence and sheer strength to back it up was the coolest thing when he was a kid, next to Videl's cool calm and willingness to handle anything that was.

If Videl was going to marry anyone it should have been Saiyaman.

At least, that's what he'd thought as a kid.

But that wasn't the reality. He made a face.

Instead, Saiyaman was now running around sporadically with someone new called Saiyawoman. Both of them being flashy and dramatic in public.

And Videl was busy doing the hard, dirty search and rescue work that didn't always catch headlines... And was apparently married to the most unassuming, nonthreatening nerd in existence.

It just didn't make sense to him.

Professor Son was passing around stacks of paper with the course outline to those in the front row to pass back. And Qalc suddenly found the professor right in front of him, holding a stack of papers out to him, silently, he took them, and the professor smiled at him before moving on. 

Qalc moved to hand the rest of the stack back and frowned.

Penne may have raved about how great the guy was, but Qalc wasn’t that impressed.


	2. The Third Years

Gohan had just wrapped up the intro speech for the 300s Bioinorganic and Bioorganic Chemistry class and had given them the needed information for the refresher lab on redox reactions. The class slowly spread out as they got up from their desks and moved through to the connected lab.

Avea grabbed a lab station and gathered the needed equipment. The 300s Biochemistry class was only a small group of less than twenty, unlike the larger first and second-year courses. And everyone knew everyone. Avea took the time to catch up with one of her classmates.

“Hey Mop,” She grinned at the exhausted face of her friend, “Did you get any sleep last night, because if you did you need to get a refund.”

“Oh haha,” they said flatly, “And not really. Why do clubs host parties midweek during orientation? I only got back to my room at four.”

Avea raised an eyebrow, “You actually went to the party last night? It’s not like we’re in our first year anymore, orientation week doesn’t ease us into it like it does with the newbies.”

“I don’t remember orientation week ever easing us into anything,” Mop said, just as flat, “I remember the art and business students being eased into it. I also remember starting differentials on the first day. Before we even had clubs day start. But we still went to every party we could then.”

Avea shrugged. The two of them had met in that maths course, they’d banded together to study almost every day in order to get through the hell that was Professor Flag. And partying whenever the opportunity came up had been the other way to deal with everything else happening at the time.

“Still, we are older now,” Avea said, “We need to be more responsible. This is the year that really matters if we want to get into Honors and do Post-Grad.”

Mop waved her off, “Yeah yeah… That’s why I’m here. Even with this damn hangover.”

Mop went quiet, and tried to focus on their work. Avea decided to let them be and not make it harder for them.

Looking around, she saw quite a few of her fellow students moved around to chat with the Professor after getting their things set up. Avea decided to join them. She’d measured out the CuSO4 to dissolve while chatting with Mop, and walked over to chat while she stirred it into the distilled water.

“Hey, Prof!” She greeted as she joined the others busy catching up with him. 

“Hello Miss Avery,” Gohan greeted her with a friendly smile. He always had a smile for everyone, but it still managed to make you feel special when it turned towards you.

“I hear you did quite well in your exams the last semester so congratulations!” He said with sincerity.

Avea puffed her chest up in pride, “Of course I did, I didn’t survive through two years of maths with Professor Flag just to give up when things are getting good!”

Not to mention, when she'd finally found professors who were actually actually _helpful_.

A shudder ran through the gathered students at the mention of Flag's name.

“Hey, be careful,” Clay joked nervously, eyes darting to the door, “They say that saying her name can summon her.”

“Hey Gohan,” another student, Dodger scratched his hairy snout with a gloved hand and asked, “You went to school here too right? How did you manage to survive her classes?”

“Hm?” Gohan said, “Well she was still pretty scary then, to be honest, but really I didn’t spend much time around her. I actually missed a lot of her classes in my second year because of some family stuff that was happening at the time, but I already knew the maths that was needed from back from when I was still being homeschooled. I guess I got lucky that I didn’t actually deal with her much until I started helping her with the first year maths lectures! That was a learning experience though!” He finished with a laugh.

Gohan having been homeschooled for most of his life had been no surprise to anyone. Even as an adult something about him just screamed homeschooled to anyone who spent much time talking to him.

What was actually shocking, however...

“Oh wow, she let you take time for a family emergency?” Avea said, legitimately surprised, “When my dad was in the hospital she told me that if I didn’t keep coming to class anyway I should just drop out because I ‘clearly wasn’t dedicated enough.’”

Clay nodded, “I had a doctors note for time off to recover after I had to have my surgery. She still marked me down for not showing up the day after.”

Gohan frowned, “That doesn’t seem very fair of her.”

“Maybe not, but you are also family with Mr Satan, and the university _is_ named after him,” Clay said with a shrug, “I love ya Prof, but you got lucky there.”

“Videl and I weren’t actually married yet then,” Gohan said awkwardly, “And when I was absent during that time I did still have to keep up with all my work! Not just with maths, but all my science classes too. Bulma was constantly forwarding the work to where I was. She actually ended up giving me a capsule lab so I could actually do my practical assignments on time while I was away from class to help me keep up!”

“Wait, Bulma?” Avea gasped after a beat for it to sink in, “As in _Doctor Bulma_ _Briefs_ _?_ ”

The rest of the class was looking equally star-struck.

“Hm? What’s with that reaction,” Gohan said, looking at the agape faces of the class with open confusion, “C’mon guys, you’ve all met her before when she did those guest lectures last year. And you know she’ll come again this year. She's hardly a stranger.”

“That’s not the same thing!” Avea practically shrieked, “You never mentioned you knew her _personally_ _!_ ”

Gohan scratched his nose, “Oh? I mean, it’s not a secret. Did I never mention it to this class? She’s my dad’s oldest friend, so I’ve known her most of my life.”

“Wait-how…” Avea tried to process the fact that her favourite professor was close friends to her greatest scientific hero.

“I thought your dad was a farmer, and your parents live all the way on Mount Paozu,” Avea said numbly, “You mentioned _that_ last year in class. How did a farmer in the middle of nowhere manage to become friends with Doctor Bulma Briefs of all people?”

Gohan laughed, “It’s actually quite a story, but the way Bulma explained it to me was that she was sick of the shallowness of high school and wanted to go on an adventure to find true love. And while she was travelling in the mountains she found a poor wild orphan living in the woods and convinced him to go with on her adventure so that he could see and learn about the world. And they’ve been close ever since.”

He tilted his head and added with a laugh, “My dad told the story slightly differently. He said that he’d been out hunting when Bulma hit him with her car. And then she tried to steal the only memento he had of his grandfather because she wanted to use it to get a boyfriend, so he decided she could only borrow it if he went with her to keep an eye on it. And they’ve been close ever since.”

“Doctor Briefs hit your dad with a car?” 

“She tried to steal from an orphan?”

“Wait was your dad like, feral?”

Gohan looked at the students through his thick-rimmed daisy-yellow glasses and said, “Come now guys, I do hope you’re all putting as much focus into your work as you are on asking all these personal questions during lab time. We do only have an hour for this lab today and we really should get underway.”

He turned to look at her and said, “Avea, your Copper sulphate has been dissolved for quite a while now. You should add some Sodium chloride to increase the electrolytic nature, otherwise, you’re not going to get the reaction before time runs out. That goes for the rest of you too, actually. We need to speed things up if we want to leave with time for everyone to get to their next lesson. Has everyone got their samples and Zinc ready to go?”

As Avea got back to work she mulled over what Gohan had revealed. Imagine being lucky enough to not only marry into the most powerful family in the world... but to _also_ be close friends with the woman in charge of the biggest tech corporation in the world!

You’d never guess it looking at him. And it couldn’t have happened to a nicer person. But...

While she recorded her equations and monitored the reactions she continued to stew on it against her will, watching as Gohan wondered around the lab checking their work and offering help and explanations. 

She’d had to fight every step of the way to get where she was now, through awful, abusive teachers and her dad dying and everything _else_.

And it turned out that Gohan, who she truly respected not just as a teacher, but as a person, had been given everything she’d fought so hard for. Had it all handed to him on a silver-plater thanks to fortunate connections and the luck of birth. She turned away from him and instead nudged Mop to wake them up from where they'd slumped over on the station with a snore.

No wonder Gohan was so kind to everyone, she privately thought, stewing in a swell of bitterness she wasn’t quite able to choke down entirely. With the sort of privileges he had in his life, he could easily afford to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It sure is easy to assume a lot about a person!
> 
> Thank you to everyone who's given this story a go so far, and thank you so much for your comments!


	3. The Colleague

Professor Flag made her way from her own classroom where she’d been doing a 300 level Maths lecture to the small group who’d made it that far. She ignored the student from her class crying in the corner, another student trying to comfort her. 

Pathetic, really. 

And students like  _ that  _ getting into her higher classes the last two years was all Professor Son’s fault. It was clear he coddled them. It was shocking how naive the man was, why else would he treat the students like children? They were adults, and if they couldn’t deal with the reality of the world they should pack up and go back to kindergarten. 

And she was planning on explaining this to the man directly herself! She was sick of all these sensitive adult children in her mathematics classes.

She’d been trying to catch him for a few days now, ever since the new semester had started and she’d gotten the latest influx of his former students in the higher-level classes, but he always seemed to be nowhere when she went looking.

She sniffed. It really was very unprofessional of him to not be in his office during office hours whenever she went looking, but what else could she really expect from someone like him. 

Frankly, she was of the opinion the university only kept him around because of his close connections to Capsule Corp. With the funding the Brief's family gave to the university they probably only kept him around to avoid causing offence. 

He'd only been a professor for two years now, and he'd been a student himself before that. She'd taught him herself and still wondered how he'd gotten through her classes with the amount of time he'd taken off for so-called family emergencies. She would have booted him from the class regardless if the Dean hadn’t been the one to pass the information along to her as a _personal favour to Doctor Briefs._

She suspected cheating on Gohan’s part personally, what with his many absences and clearly  unsuitable  personality, but she had no evidence to support it or she would have had him kicked out years before this point. 

But, in the here and now she had other concerns. She’d heard he would often hang behind after classes to answer any questions the students had that they didn’t feel comfortable asking in front of the entire lecture hall.

She rolled her eyes at the very thought. If they needed to ask that many questions they clearly weren’t cut out for university to begin with!

And there he was, chatting amicably with a few students at the front of the lecture theatre, turned away from her. The moment she entered the room, he stiffened immediately and turned around to face her, a look of mild panic on his face.

“Oh, Professor Flag,” he said with a nervous laugh, “How can I help?”

“You know why I'm here,” she said frostily.

Looking down her nose at the lingering students she waved her hand to shoosh them away and they scattered out the room quickly.

His eyes flickered to watch them leave, looking like he would very much like to follow after them rather than face her. Such weakness.

She narrowed her eyes even further as she launched into what she came to tell him, “You  _ cannot  _ keep sending such unprepared students into my class! They need to ask questions about everything!"

Professor Son laughed nervously. She narrowed her eyes.

“They managed to pass my classes and we follow the same curriculum, as laid out by you. They know everything they needed to advance, and their grades support that.” He said with his head slightly bowed towards her, “If they're asking questions in your classes that means they want to learn what you're teaching, and that's something to be encouraged!" 

Professor Son smiled and added, "Besides, they just got back from the midyear break, most students need a quick refresher after that!"

Professor Flag sniffed in disgust, "If they had any  _ respect  _ for their studies they would make sure to refresh themselves before wasting my time. But no,  _ your  _ students have no respect, and frankly, given how quick they are to fall apart at the slightest criticism, they’re weak!”

A shadow of something passed over Professor Son’s face at the word weak, and his normally placid, pathetically friendly face went hard. Despite herself, Professor Flag felt something lurch unpleasantly inside her at the sight. It was as if the entire atmosphere of the room had grown thick and suffocating. 

A strange whining sound was coming from somewhere behind him. 

And when he spoke, it with a tone he’d never spoken to her with before.

"Why do they need to be strong?" He said. Voice measured and controlled. Lacking his usual simpering tone.

"Because the real world isn't going to coddle them the way you do! If they can't handle university they shouldn't be here!" She continued, unwilling to back away or feel intimidated by this… this...  _ child! _

He tilted his head and looked at her coolly. That whining sound was growing louder, Flag's eyes flickered away from his gaze to try and find the source before turning back.

"You're right about one thing, the world isn't always a kind place," he said, with the same measured emotionless tone, "But that sounds like a reason to add more kindness into the world to me, not a reason to cause needless pain to others."

"If they don't learn to deal with it then they'll never get stronger!" She spat back. How a so-called adult could have such a childish view of the world was beyond her, “But I suppose it’s no surprise they behave that way when they have someone as weak and childish as you in charge of them!”

There was a smell of electronics burning and the whine had taken on an ominous tone.

“If becoming bitter and cruel is your idea of strength, then I will _gladly_ stay weak!" Professor Son snapped at her suddenly, anger she’d never seen from him before flickering over his normally placid face. There was a crunching sound.

And then the smartboard exploded. 

Professor Flag screamed in shock as debris rained over them. Somehow, Professor Son had managed to get between her and the large device before she could even process what was happening.

Blinking in the shock of it all, Professor Flag looked up at Professor Son. The man had lost that strange focused look he had earlier during their argument, and that flash of anger in his face had been wiped from his expression as if it had never existed to begin with. 

He looked down at her with concern etched into his forehead.

"Oh dear, I’m so sorry!" he said with an anxious voice. 

She looked over at the desk he'd been leaning against moments before. The vinyl and plywood surface of the lectures desk had splintered apart where he’d been moments before.

Before she could absorb much more, she felt a gentle hand leading her out the room, carefully steering her around the bits of debris, "I am so, so sorry about that, are you alright?"

Gohan carefully guided her out and sat her down in one of the chairs outside the hall.

"I'll take full responsibility for it all," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a strange, customised phone with the Capsule Corp logo on it, clearly some prototype he'd been gifted due to his connections, "I'll contact maintenance and then help you to the nurse immediately."

That snapped her out of it, "Nurse? Nonsense! I'm fine! I hardly need a nurse!"

"Are you sure, that was quite a shock?" Son said, his kindness and gentle consideration grating on her.

"Nonsense! And I hardly see how the damn board exploding is your fault of all things, this awful modern technology has always been more trouble than it's worth! Back in my day, we didn’t have to worry about the blackboard causing problems like this!"

And she was able to throw chalk at the students not paying attention. Couldn't do that with the damn stylus they'd been given.

She forced herself up to her feet and looked back into the room, "Look at that," she said to him, motioning back to the splintered desk she’d seen earlier, "If you hadn't moved away from the desk when you did, whatever shrapnel from the damn thing that did  _ that  _ would have gone right through you!"

Son was staring at her with a dumb expression on his face. It wasn’t that much different from his usual expression in her opinion. 

"I'm going to put through a complaint to health and safety!" She went on angrily, "It is reckless of the university to allow such devices if something like this is can happen with them!"

Her prior anger over Professor Son's teaching methods had been drowned out by her anger over smartboards, an upgrade she had resented the university getting from the start, and when security and maintenance finally arrived to investigate she made her views on them well known!

Professor Son was unable to get a word in edgewise to explain his side of the situation, but given how naive and weak-minded he was she could hardly trust him to explain things properly, now could she? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter! One thing to note is that while I do write quite far ahead, I don't post nearly as fast because I have a tendency to rewrite large chunks of a story on a whim if I get a better idea, and need breathing room to do so.


	4. The Therapist

Fan Tale gave the room a once over to double-check that there was nothing fragile or that she cared too much about lying around the office just in case. Not that she kept much of that nature anywhere near her office anymore. Satisfied, she made herself a cup of tea in an ugly mug with an obnoxious quote on it that she’d been given as a gift. She always used this hated mug when this particular client came in to see her.

It had become second nature by now, to go through these actions. Fan wasn’t an easily unsettled person by nature, and almost a decade as the university’s psychiatrist on top of that had left her able to stay calm and cool in the face of near anything. 

The only time that calm had been tested was during the first year this particular client had decided to step through her doors, back when he was still a student himself.

To this day she always allowed herself a free hour after their sessions, just in case she had to process yet another reality changing bombshell to what she thought she knew about the world.

It hadn’t been necessary for a few years now, most of what they spoke about these days were the almost normal concerns and anxieties that any relatively new parent and an even newer professor would have.

She took the cup of tea with her when she went to open the door leading to the waiting room.

The man waiting there stood and bowed to her politely the same way he always did when she came into the waiting room. It felt quite old fashioned every time, but it was quite endearing.

"On time as always, I see." Fan welcomed the man with a smile, letting herself take in what he was wearing today. His sense of fashion was… quite distinctive, to say the least.

He laughed lightly, and scratched the back of his head, “Yes, thank you for taking the time to see me.”

"As always, it’s no problem, I’m here to help,” Fan smiled, “Please, come through into my office and grab a seat."

With another smile and a small bow, the man entered the room and took a seat on the comfortable plush chair she motioned to.

Holding the ugly mug in her hands she asked him, “So how have you been the last week?”

Gohan’s smile slipped for a moment before coming back full force, with the addition of embarrassment, “I don’t know if you heard about the smartboard exploding in one of the lecture halls?”

It had been brought up in passing to her by a few people the last few days.

“Yes, something about a fluke design flaw, I heard?”

Gohan looked guilty.

“Or not,” she added dryly. “Would you like to tell me what happened?”

Gohan covered his face in embarrassment, "it wasn't just the smartboard... I also broke the desk I was leaning on in half."

He looked utterly mortified with himself.

"Are you okay?" She asked him, compartmentalising the terrifying strength she knew the anxious man in front of her hid, it was one of many things she’d had years to get used to about him. 

"It isn't like you to get that upset at work." She added after a moment.

He sighed and let it out, "I know, I usually have a better grip on my temper than that these days. It's just, Professor Flag and I were talking and she said a few things that… I guess it got to me more than I wanted to admit.”

He closed his eyes and sighed again. “I just hate how out of control I feel the moment I allow myself to even feel the slightest bit of anger. And it’s not something I can afford to do around regular people... I didn’t even lift a finger and I caused thousands of Zeni’s worth in property damage. I could have accidentally injured a 60-year-old woman without even touching her. That’s not okay."

It had been a while since this topic had come up in their sessions, she wasn’t lying when she said it wasn’t like him to accidentally cause such damage. Anymore at least.

When he’d first started seeing her, back when he was a student, it had originally been over this same concern. Dealing with his mostly hidden anger. At the time he hadn’t felt comfortable giving much detail about where his anger issues had started, and she wondered if they were finally going to have to face that much skirted around topic.

She nodded, “You’re right, it’s not okay. Would you like to tell me what she said that upset you?”

Gohan gave a small laugh, “Honestly it sounds pretty pathetic even in my head, I don’t know how to make it sound better out loud.”

“Do your best, it’s allowed to sound as pathetic as you’d like,” She said, smiling at him, “I’m not going to judge.”

He nodded and after a moment started talking, “She was busy telling me that I coddle my students too much and that I’m making them... weak as a result.”

He smiled crookedly, “And that it’s no surprise that my students act that way with someone as weak as me teaching them.”

Professor Flag. 

The number of students Fan had seen in tears while they spoke about her had resulted in no small number of complaints from her to the university, yet she remained regardless thanks to her tenure. Fan actually considered it a victory that when the school added Gohan to the roster, he’d started taking half the lower level maths classes. Fan certainly got half the amount of first-year student breakdowns in her office since that change.

“Anger would be a reasonable emotion to feel in that situation,” Fan told him gently, “It sounds like she was the one being out of place at the time.” 

Gohan shrugged, “Maybe, but her anger doesn’t break things without her consent. Doesn’t have the potential to break _people_. Physically at least. Feeling anger around regular people isn’t something I can afford to risk.”

Fan sighed internally.

He was right. It really was a tricky situation, one that they’d gone over a number of different options with in the past. Gohan was an expert in anger management out of a terrifying necessity, to the point that she half wondered if it had looped back around into unhealthy emotional suppression instead.

Bottling everything up. 

And it was inevitable that if he kept that up instead of dealing with it, it would finally explode. And what had happened with Professor Flag had _not_ been an explosion, if anything it had been a small gust of steam from the autoclave of pressure underneath.

“We might have to revisit looking at other outlets for your anger again,” she said, expecting the coming push back.

“But studies have shown that expressing negative emotions like anger reinforces them and makes it easier to become angry in the future,” he said anxiously, as expected, “Reacting angrily makes you angrier… And I don’t want to go back to feeling that all the time just underneath. I never want to feel that again.”

“It’s true that anger can build like that, but that’s not quite what I was referring to. But you already know to remove yourself from situations that make you angry if you can. You know how to meditate. You have all the psychological tools you need, the other option is for you to look into exercise again as a way of distracting from your anger-”

“That won’t work,” Gohan said immediately, “The only way for me to reach any real physical exertion is to spar against someone stronger than me… and that worries me because it makes me stronger too. Too strong too fast. Even without touching Super Saiyan anymore.”

Super Saiyan. It had been an interesting few sessions when that had been brought up for the first time. And how he’d explained that in order to transform he had to feel rage. It had been a few years now since she’d advised him to avoid it if he felt it was causing him emotional destress to continue. And it had worked. 

For a while. 

And then he’d stopped training again. She’d asked why at the time, but he’d said there just wasn’t enough time in the day between his research, teaching, a toddler and his… extracurricular activities with his wife. Although to Fan’s knowledge, he gained very little exertion during their little vigilante hobby. 

“Gohan, I’d like to ask you a question,” She said.

“Oh, sure!” He said quickly.

“Why did you decide to stop your training? I understand you’ve been incredibly busy with life lately, but what you mentioned about getting strong too quickly leads me to believe you have other concerns regarding it.”

Gohan was quiet for a while before he finally nodded, “I should have realised you’d pick up on that. It’s true, there is more. I was starting to find it… difficult. To separate even friendly fighting and training from my anger. I started training again so I could be strong enough to protect my family. That fear of something hurting them. But it just reminded me of back when...”

He trailed off.

Fan gave him a moment to see if he would continue.

“I don’t want to become something others might need protection from,” Gohan said quietly.

Fan suppressed the cold shiver that slid down her spine at the resigned factuality that Gohan used to say that absolutely terrifying idea. 

She knew he was a good man and a good person, but it was very clear there was something he needed to process. Something that made him think what he was saying was a reasonable conclusion. 

“Which leads me to the next thing,” Fan said eventually, trying to dissipate the heavy feeling in the room, “Finding the core reasons for your anger and those negative thoughts, and how it connects to your history with martial arts and fighting. Cognitive talk therapy to try and work through, understand and disconnect the action from the emotion. ”

Gohan was quiet.

“But,” he said quietly, “what if there is no reason? What if it’s just built into me genetically.”

They’d discussed this topic before. It was always a danger with scientists. Probably more so given his research.

Gohan laughed humourlessly, “I’m half-Saiyan on my dad’s side. And a mix of human and Ox Demon on my mother’s side, the genetic probability of my brother and I not just being second-generation hybrids, but a hybrid twice-over was something I found so improbable when I got older and actually started interacting with more people in the world. When I realised it wasn’t the norm I’d thought it was, it ended up drawing me into my field of study.”

Fan listened carefully, keeping her own thoughts about just how unusual his situation really was was to herself. Treating him like a biological anomaly was something he already did enough himself with his research in her opinion. 

"What if it's something that's genetic and therefore innate in me? I mean, I know my brother doesn't have the same problem.” he continued, “But I’ve studied the differences in our genetic structure – since crossing species isn't often stable, to begin with – and there are some interesting differences between us in gene expression. Even if I haven't been able to isolate what all the genes in question are actually responsible for yet at this point. But, what if it’s caused by my brain just being fundamentally wrong because of how the genetic recombination took place in my case? What if I really am just a... monster trying to pretend otherwise?"

“You're a hybrid, yes," she said, keeping her voice free from judgement, she’d had time to acclimatise herself to this in the past, "And that can indeed result in some problems, both physical and psychological, it's true. Given your research, I'm sure you probably know that better than most. But you are far from a monster, and intrusive thoughts are not the same as committing those actions.”

He shook his head, “I work so hard on being human when genetically speaking at best it could be argued to be a quarter. And realistically when you actually look at the dominance of various gene expressions and a number of other factors it can easily be argued to be less.”

Fan looked at the unassuming professor with his large glasses and polka-dot bowtie. He was only about six centimetres taller than her at most. She often still had trouble reconciling the reality of all he was with the wide-eyed and inobtrusive man sitting across from her.

It never felt quite real.

“As interesting as your research into the topic is, that's not why you're here. I am here to help you however I can. And to help you understand and control how you feel in a healthy way. We can still work cognitively on the things that have happened during your life that may have exacerbated or triggered problems that, yes, may very well have started out as a fluke of genetics. But ultimately if it’s genetic or not doesn’t matter, at least not to me. What matters is you learning how to understand and work with yourself as you are. And recognising that genetic triggers could very well mean nothing without an environmental or emotional trigger, to begin with. And that any genetic predispositions do not lessen the emotional and psychological impact on you."

A small amount of the tension in Gohan's shoulders lifted.

“Maybe you’re right,” He laughed anxiously, adjusting his glasses. “I’ll think about it.”

Fan glanced at the time, “Well, we are out of time for today so there’s no pressure to make a decision soon. Take your time and think it over. I understand you’ve been reluctant to talk about many things in your past, while still managing to share a lot with me over the years. And while I think it would be helpful, both so I can better understand the best tools to teach you, and so you can start to process things that are still clearly impacting your life to this day, I won’t put any pressure on you to talk about things that are upsetting even now. It will be on your terms if you wish to follow through.”

Gohan bowed to her as he left the room, Fan following him out, “Thank you Ms Tale, I’ll take it into consideration.”

After she closed the door, leaving her alone in the empty office again, she looked down at her cup of tea. It was ice cold. With a sigh, she went to throw it out and brew a new cup. This time, she grabbed a different mug. This one was shaped like a frog.

With her new cup of tea in hand, she went to sit at her desk to digitise her notes. From an outside glance, she still seemed as cool and collected as ever, which is why, if anyone had been observing her at that time, they would have been very surprised when she suddenly buried her head in her arms and moaned, before asking the empty room with a voice muffled by her arms;

“When did my life get this fucking weird?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “When did my life get this fucking weird?” indeed... So that was one hell of a week we just had, yeah? I've had this written and ready since I posted the last chapter, but holy shit that last week... I'm sure most people understand right now.  
> Did you know you can have people panic borrow library books? Well, they can. Everyone was maxing out their cards before we shut down. And we did. Except I still have to go to work today even with no customers allowed, and will likely be redeployed on some essential duties or who knows what else when I get in. Interesting times!
> 
> Thank you for reading, and I look forward to your comments!


	5. The Daughter

It was pretty well into the semester now, and Qalc had let go of his lingering jealousy towards his current maths lecturer ages ago. 

The man was just too genuinely nice. And helpful. And friendly. He grew on you. A bit like a fungus really. 

And while maths had always been one of Qalc’s best subjects, it was still a surprise to realise how much of a breeze Gohan’s lessons were. Matrix algebra and single variable calculus had never been as fun.

Part of it was Gohan’s enthusiasm about what he was teaching them. He genuinely seemed happy to be there and happy to answer any questions. 

It was like Penne had told him, he never made anyone feel stupid about anything. Questions that personally made Qalc roll his eyes at the student asking, Gohan would take completely seriously and spend time on in order to make sure everyone was keeping up. There was no such thing as a stupid question he would say, all any question being asked meant was that he as the teacher was the one who needed to explain it better. 

The man had the patience of a saint, that’s all Qalc could say about that!

He still didn't really get what Videl saw in him though, just because he really did just seem like he had nothing in common with her tough, no-nonsense and down to earth attitude. Maybe it was some kinda opposites attract thing?

Still, it was a surprise when Gohan entered the room that day with a toddler strapped to his front and a large duffle bag carried in one hand.

Immediately the class started losing their collective mind over the baby. While Qalc was taken aback by the child as well, his eyes slowly drifted down to the bag. Qalc felt his mind make some connections, and soon found himself staring wide-eyed at said duffle bag. 

It was buckling in on itself under its own weight.  Without so much as a look of strain on the dorky Professor’s face.  What the hell?

“Oh my gosh! Professor, is that your kid?”

“She’s so cute!”

“What’s her name?”

Gohan dropped the bag with a heavy thud and covered the kid’s ears at the sudden outbreak of noise and questions from the room, but the toddler didn’t seem concerned, giggling and staring at the people in the room with curious eyes as she waved back to them with a grin.

Gohan motioned for them to quiet down and then he started speaking, with a bit of a laugh, “As you might have noticed I’ve got my daughter Pan with me today, her grandparents couldn’t watch her today while my wife and I were at work, so she’ll be here with me today.”

“Why couldn’t your wife take her?” One boy, Qalc thought his name might be Razor, asked. Qalc rolled his eyes. Like what the hell? Did he even know what Videl did for a living?

Gohan shook his head, “Oh no, Videl’s day job is much too dangerous for her to take Pan with her at this age. Search and Rescue is no place for a three-year-old.”

He looked pained at the very thought of the suggestion.

“The sort of things you see in a disaster zone requires a level of psychological readiness that you can simply not expect from a young child, not if you want them to grow up to be as mentally healthy as they are physically healthy. And at Pan’s age, she wouldn’t be able to process things in a healthy way, and it could potentially cause all sorts of long term psychological effects well into her adulthood.”

The same boy was gaping. His mouth had dropped open at Videl's name, and his eye's had started to bug out. Razor finally interrupted Gohan’s very fatherly explanations on the importance of childhood psychological development with a strangely high-pitched voice. 

“Whoa, wait! Videl? As in _Videl Satan?_ You’re married to _that_ Videl?”

He wasn’t the only one in the class who apparently didn’t know, but as Qalc looked around he did see others like him who must have heard the rumours before, and the hall burst into noise again as people started spreading the gossip they knew or started hurling out more questions to the overwhelmed and harried-looking professor.

“Professor, Have you met Mr Satan?”

“How did you meet Videl?”

More questions rained down, drowning each other out until it all turned to noise.

“Calm down everyone,” Gohan asked the class and waited until the din died down before speaking again. 

“Okay, so of course I know Mark. he usually watches Pan for us. And I met Videl back in high school. But this is not the time for personal questions, please. It’s time to focus back on the topic at hand and get this lecture underway. Your midterms are only a few weeks away and I want to make sure you all do your best!”

Eventually, things did calm down again and the lesson actually got underway.

At one point about halfway into the lecture, Pan started getting fussy about being strapped to her dad and he set her down next to him on the ground. He then opened the duffle bag, from which he pulled out a huge lunch box full of stir-fried meat and rice and a small bib. Qalc could smell it from where he sat near the front. It was almost lunchtime, and he felt it right then.

Gohan continued to explain the current slide on the old fashioned projector the room had been forced to use the last few weeks for slides. Ever since that defective smartboard had exploded. While he spoke, he carefully put Pan’s bib on and opened up the box that was almost the same size as her and handed her a spoon.

The entire class focused on what the two were doing, completely ignoring their work as they watched the toddler start shoving handfuls of food into her mouth, spoon tossed aside, while Gohan desperately picked it up and tried futilely to get her to use the utensil, to no avail.

“Pan,” Gohan sighed helplessly, before giving up and returning to the lecture.

Qalc watched the baby along with the rest of the class, more of them turning to watch in morbid horror the longer it continued.

Tiny hands emptied the entire container. That container could probably have fed Qalc for half a week's worth of lunches, and Gohan’s baby girl had eaten it all in… he glanced up at the clock, less than ten minutes. Huh.

He was dumbfounded.

And Gohan wasn’t reacting to it at all.

Eventually, after painfully silent seconds, Pan stood up and toddled over to her dad to pull on his pant leg. Gohan turned to look down at her and the finished container.

The room held their collective breaths.

“All finished?” he asked her gently, kneeling down to her level.

The toddler shook her head with a small pout and replied a single word that carried in the silence, “More!”

Gohan ruffled her hair with affection and reached into the duffle for another equally large container.

You could have heard a pin drop as the class watched the toddler tear into the second box. 

Gohan sighed, “Sorry about all the interruptions today class, Pan gets very grumpy if she misses her snack time.”

A girl called Rolag, who Qalc knew as a mutual friend of Penne’s, and who sat a row behind Qalc, gave a slightly hysterical giggle, “That’s a snack?”

She clearly hadn’t intended it to be said as loud as it came out in the dead silence of the lecture hall, and clamped her hand over her mouth in embarrassment a moment later when the room turned to look at her.

Gohan, for his part, also suddenly looked embarrassed, as he looked around the room and seemed to register the stares Pan was getting. Quietly, he moved her and the lunchbox behind the lecturer’s desk and out of sight, Pan struggling against him at first until she realised the box was following with her, and she reached her tiny hands towards it before vanishing from Qalc’s line of sight.

Qalc was still baffled, even as the class continued. 

When the end of the lecture came not too long after, he found himself wandering over to the front where the professor and his daughter were. Most of the class had left, clearly needing to get to their next lectures, but Qalc had a free hour next and was in no rush. Rolag was already over by the professor, and was busy gushing over how cute Pan was. There were two other students there too, who Qalc didn’t know the names of.

“How…” Qalc heard someone say as he made his way over, “How could a toddler eat that much? That’s had to be more than her own bodyweight!”

Gohan looked at Qalc with the same awkwardly embarrassed look, and the others there also turned to stare at him. And Qalc realised he’d been the one to ask the question.

“It’s really not as much as it looks!” Gohan said awkwardly, with an equally awkward laugh, “My little brother could put away double what Pan could at her age, I’ve honestly been worried that I’ve been underfeeding her if anything!”

It really sounded like he was trying to downplay it.

Qalc was a biochemistry student. Sure he was just in his first year, and only had the basic courses under his belt at this stage, but he’d chosen the field because he had an existing interest in the subject, and the science behind a child being able to eat that much… well, it clearly wasn’t impossible since he’d just seen it. 

But it would require a vastly different digestive system and metabolic rate compared to anything resembling a normal human, the closest he could think of to compare to what he’d seen…

“Professor, have you ever heard of Tarrere?” He asked seriously, “Because if both your brother and kid can eat like this, it might indicate a series of inheritable genetic mutations that could indicate a number of serious long term health ramifications.”

Gohan stared at him in wide-eyed silence for a moment, mouth slightly open in surprise, before he started laughing.

Qalc frowned, and tried to press the urgency of the situation, “Sir, I’m serious! Eating like that isn’t normal or healthy!”

Gohan waved him off, “I’m sorry Mr Lator, I do appreciate the concern, really! Even if it isn’t necessary in this particular instance. I might not have mentioned it to this class, but does anyone know what my field of research is in?”   


There were shaking heads from the small group left in the room.

Gohan smiled brightly, “My study is in the biological and chemical understanding of molecular genetics. I did my dissertation on how genetic recombination takes place in viable hybrid offspring, and how the chromosomal crossover and gene conversion may differ across individuals of the same gene pool in such cases.”

Qalc absorbed that. And felt a rush of embarrassment that hit so hard he could feel the rush of blood in his ears. He knew Professor Son taught some of the higher level Biochem courses. Of  _ course  _ he had the background to know if there was something to be concerned about with his daughter! Qalc was just a first-year student, and he’d tried to explain genetics to a man with a  _ Doctorate! _

Qalc lowered his head, blushing with just as much, if not more, embarrassment than Rolag had been earlier in the lecture.

And his research sounded really interesting too, Qalc thought to himself privately. He knew a kid growing up who’d been half-animal person and half-human. The kid had been riddled with health problems and had died halfway through high school. Understanding how hybrid children’s genetics worked hadn’t been explored much in the last few decades. Any sort of research into the field had become a hotbed of ethical concerns after Doctor Gero...

Gohan continued to the small remaining group at large, “Needless to say, I’m _not_ going to be discussing any of my daughter’s personal information in class. Videl and I are trying our best to give her space out of the media and public eye to grow into her own person, I would be grateful if you would all please be respectful of her privacy too.”

Gohan bowed politely to the group, startling them by the formality of the action.

Qalc nodded dumbly, as did the other two students he didn’t know. He wasn’t sure if Rolag had even been paying attention, she was still focusing on playing with Pan.

.

.

.

Qalc found himself not wanting to let his professor down. He didn’t know if the rest of the class felt the same, especially those who hadn't been around at the end for his formal request, and he would still hear the occasional bit of gossip about how much Pan had eaten. The problem for those gossiping was that, well… no one believed them.

Others were all convinced that they were overexaggerating if it was brought up. Qalc saw this first-hand when Rolag decided to join him and Penne later that same day, and she tried to explain what happened to her. And Qalc didn't try to stop her because, well, it was Penne. Telling Penne didn't count anyway.

“Seriously, she ate like,  _ double  _ her body weight!” Rolag was telling Penne, miming the amount with her hands.

Penne looked at her in disbelief, before glancing over at Qalc with a sceptical look.

He sighed and rolled his eyes, “It wasn’t that much.”

Penne nodded in satisfaction, “Thought so. Ro, you  _ do  _ have a tendency to embellish things, so a kid was hungry - it probably just seemed like a lot. Especially right before lunch when you were also hungry.”

“It was probably closer to half her body weight, maybe three-quarters.” Qalc interrupted right then, just to throw his friend off.

Penne narrowed her yellow eyes at him.

He gave a shit-eating grin at her reaction. His grin didn't last for long though.

When Penne spoke, it was with a half growl down her throat, “Seriously? Is this some weird lie because you’re still hung up over him marrying Videl? Like, what is even the _point_ of making something like this up?”

Qalc spluttered in denial, he hadn’t meant it to come off like that, and was immediately on the defensive, “What? No! Seriously, I’m over that. Why would I - what?”

Rolag was giggling at him. Great. The resident space-case was mocking him now as well.

“Yeah, that is what I’m asking,” Penne said, ears down low, “Like, are you guys seriously trying to start rumours about, what? Mr Satan’s granddaughter being some sort of genetic abnormality? How would you guys feel if your dumb rumour made its way into some hack tabloid? Come on, have some respect for Mr Satan and Videl if you won’t at least respect Gohan!”

Rolag had gone pale, and Qalc knew he felt a sudden seriousness rush over him at that possibility.

“No way!” Rolag said, shaking her head viciously, white curls flapping along, “We aren’t saying that! I respect the Professor! He’s really great! Seriously!”

Qalc nodded in agreement, “Yeah Penne, that’s not what we were saying at all!”

“Okay. Cool." she said, the fur on her neck settling back down, "So how about we do some actual work while we’re here then,” Penne said, pulling out her textbooks, clearly done with the conversation. 

Penne could be quite vicious in her loyalty, and Qalc had not meant to trip that instinct up accidentally like that. 

Qalc sighed to himself. Honestly, if the rest of the class found themselves in similar situations of disbelief, the rumour mill would probably die out pretty quickly. Especially this close to exams. Even Qalc was starting to doubt himself. Maybe it had just seemed like a lot of food because it was before lunch and they were all starving? Maybe it had been at least some level of projection. Like, yeah it was a lot of food for a kid, but maybe it wasn't as much as he'd thought it was?

It was only days later that Qalc realised he’d completely forgotten how easily Gohan had carried that massive, buckling bag.

He decided to mention it to Penne while they were studying in the library again later that week and to his relief, she nodded in agreement. 

“Oh yeah! It’s easy to not realise it, what with how he dresses and looks, but I’ve seen him in the library before carrying huge stacks of books without a sweat! Like, as in a full trolly's worth! I think he might be pretty buff under the sweater vests. And I mean, he is married to Videl, and he’s the son-in-law of Mr Satan, so like, he had to at least be kinda strong to be in that family.”

Qalc nodded slowly. That kinda made sense. And it also made the idea of Videl being married to him somewhat more believable in his eyes. It gave them something in common at least.

And while sure, he couldn’t imagine Gohan getting into a fight the way he could with Videl or Mark Satan, he could kinda see him as the sort of person who might work out for the health benefits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so now Tarrare exists in the DBZ verse. At least in this fic! Who knows, maybe in this world he was the result of some ancient unknown earthbound Saiyan who left genetic fragments throughout a population resulting in a strange throwback of someone who gained the Saiyan hunger and digestion alone with none of the benefits that might have come with it.
> 
> I also want to say another thank you so much to @theamazingspiderteen on Tumblr, who sent me fanart! I'm still in shock over it! Here's a link to it, I'm still completely ecstatic over it!  
> https:// lethotep.tumblr.com /post/ 613424675620585472/hi-i-was-reading-your-professor-son-fic-which


	6. The Dad

Gohan was in the middle of explaining the relationships between differential and integral calculus to the class when a man seemingly appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the lecture floor, several people screamed and others stared in shock or disbelief.

Rolag was one of those people. She’d been drifting off a bit, her focus half-glazed as she stared in the general direction of the whiteboard. Which was why when the strange man appeared almost directly where she’d been staring, she was sure she must have jumped half a meter! And if the annoyed look Qalc was giving her was any indication, she might have been one of the people who screamed too.

The man seemed unconcerned, ignoring the class and waving to Gohan with a grin on his face. Gohan, who was resting his head in his hand and taking a deep, calming breath.

The man was dressed like a farmer, wearing a mud-stained singlet and dirt still drying on his heavy work trousers and boots. The caked mud on his boots was cracking and leaving clumps of dirt whenever he moved.

He was also like, really muscular. Rolag stared at the man's well-defined muscles in surprise. She could feel Qalc glancing over at her and rolling his eyes, which was kinda annoying. She knew what he was assuming about her right now, people always tended to assume she was dumb and shallow. It was like they didn’t realise she was studying the same thing as them!

Well, Qalc wasn’t as smart as he thought he was because he clearly, despite his hero worship of Videl, had never actually worked out in his life! Rolag, however, spent a lot of time at the university gym, ever since she’d moved to the city to study. And before moving, she’d lived with her mum near the Chin-Star martial arts school, where she’d been a, granted pretty undisciplined, student for most of her life. People would look at her cute colourful clothes and assume she had no muscles under them. It was just like with the Professor! She’d heard people call him weak before too.

People really couldn’t see much beyond the surface.

So, the point being, she knew a few things about muscles!

Those near the front of the room, like her, could just make out Gohan muttering, "Why in the middle of class?"

Rolag lost her train of thought as she turned to watch the unfolding show.

“Hey, Gohan!” The man said cheerfully.

“Dad,” Gohan said, before lifting his face out of his hand and turning to look at the man seriously, “Is something wrong? Why are you here?”

Rolag blinked and looked back and forth between the two, eyes wide. This was the Professor’s dad? She could see the resemblance, now that she thought about it. They had the same black hair and eyes. And there was something familiar about the man's face...

The man, meanwhile, turned to look at the old fashioned whiteboard the room had been fitted with after the freak explosion near the start of the semester and exclaimed, “Oh wow! Are you teaching this?” he said, pointing at the graphs and equations on the board. 

“Yes dad, this is the middle of my maths lecture, but why are you here? Is it serious? Is everything okay?” Gohan asked, sounding concerned.

The lecture hall was silent, both from the shock of the appearing man, and the change in Gohan’s voice. None of them had ever heard him sound this serious before. 

“Whhhaaat?” The man gasped at the board, “That’s maths? But it’s all letters and drawings and stuff! I thought maths was about numbers! Oh gosh son, you've got to be really smart to make sense of all this! Do you think Bulma know this stuff too? That’s amazing!”

“Yes dad, Bulma definitely knows this stuff. If you’re actually interested in learning how it works, I would happily explain it to you some time if you’d like, but dad, please focus. Why are you here?”

The man _finally_ seemed to realise what Gohan was asking, Rolag couldn't help but idly think his focus was maybe even as bad as hers.

“Oh right! I needed to ask you something important!" He said, turning to the Professor.

Gohan sighed, and relaxed slightly before remembering he still had a lecture hall full of students, and turning to them, "We're going to step outside for a minute, while I'm gone, please go over your notes so we can go over any questions you might have when I return."

Rolag was in her semi-usual usual seat, in the front corner of the lecture hall, right next to the door. It was Qalc’s prefered seating, and she split her time between sitting with him and with a friend of hers from her bio lectures. 

As the doors closed behind the two men who’d just left the room, she strained her ears to try and pick up the conversation outside over the hum of whispering students around her.

She couldn't make out much more than the drone of indistinct voices and quickly lost interest in trying. 

After a few minutes, Gohan returned to the room, with a look of amused exasperation on his face. 

"Thanks, Gohan! Talk soon!" His dad said, waving through the doorway, before turning to the class and adding with a brilliant grin, "Nice meeting you all, Gohan's students!"

Before he ducked out into the hall and disappeared again. 

Gohan rubbed the back of his head nervously and apologized, "I'm so sorry about the interruption, my dad isn't always the best with social cues, unfortunately."

"Is everything okay?" The loudmouthed boy Razor asked.

"Oh, yes! He just wanted to ask if I wanted to go on a trip with him and my younger brother over the school break. Apparently my mother just gave them permission to go and he was too excited to wait until I finished work to wait to ask me." Gohan laughed fondly, "I did tell him that it wasn't appropriate to disrupt my lectures if it's not an emergency, so hopefully he'll remember in the future and it won't happen again."

"Are you going to go? On the trip I mean," Rolag asked in curiosity.

Gohan shrugged, "I'll need to discuss it with Videl and Pan first, and after that I'll see if I can take the time off during the Summer break. I usually help with the Summer school classes so It will depend on that."

"Ooh! So where does he want to go?" She asked interestedly. 

Gohan made a vague hand gesture, "Oh, it's quite far away, it's not a simple day trip that's for sure."

"Your dad seems… interesting." Qalc said just then. Breaking his silence.

Gohan laughed in agreement, “He is! There’s never a dull moment with him around, but it can be difficult getting him to focus on the right things sometimes.”

"How did he appear in the middle of the room like that?" Qalc asked bluntly.

Rolag turned to stare at Qalc in surprise. So did a lot of other people. The room seemed to hold its breath. 

Had he actually appeared in the middle of the room? Rolag frowned, she’d thought it had been her lack of attention causing her to zone-out only making it seem that way. Had Qalc been zoning out too?

Gohan ignored the question, "I think we've all been distracted from work long enough, did anyone have any questions about what we covered so far or should I keep going from where we left off?"

* * *

Qalc continued going on about it when the lecture ended and the two of them walked away from the lecture theatre.

“He totally dodged the question!” He said to Rolag as they made their way to the library, “Seriously, the guy totally appeared out of thin air!”

Rolag shrugged, “I mean, I don’t know. Maybe he was just moving very fast?”

Qalc looked at her like she was stupid, “Faster than the human eye? Are you serious?”

Rolag frowned at him, “Yes actually. I mean, it’s not that strange you know.”

He snorted, “In _what_ world? The only times there’s been people moving that fast have been in edited videos and with special effects!”

Rolag was quiet. Oh yeah, she’d forgotten that pretty much everyone who lived in the cities didn’t really think Ki existed. It had always seemed like more effort than it was worth to try and prove them wrong, especially because she wasn’t very good at arguing her points usually. And since she’d never had the focus to master her Ki, it wasn’t like she could show people. But this time, a stroke of inspiration struck her.

“What about Saiyaman then?” She asked, “There’s footage of him and Saiyawoman moving faster than the human eye!”

Qalc spluttered. 

“I mean, that’s different!” He said, pushing his glasses up, “I’m pretty sure that’s got more to do with the frame rate of the video equipment the news uses, not to mention that that’s _Saiyaman!_ Not some random farmer!”

Rolag hummed thoughtfully, “Maybe Professor Gohan’s dad is Saiyaman then.”

She wasn’t being serious, but the look Qalc gave her told her he’d taken it as such with the way his face changed colour as he apparently seriously entertained the thought.

After a minute of composing himself, he eventually said in a low voice after looking around first, “Don’t tell Penne, but seriously, something just doesn’t add up about the Professor. First his daughter, now his dad… And the way he dodges questions. There’s something he isn’t telling us!”

Rolag shrugged, and looked up into the blue sky, “Well he is our teacher. It would be pretty strange for him to tell us his life story or like, personal stuff. And, like, it’s pretty obvious the Professor’s dad is a martial artist, so even if he didn’t move super fast he could have like, just been _really_ quiet and that’s why we didn’t notice him immediately.”

“How do you figure he’s a martial artist?” Qalc frowned at her, “Where’d you get that from?”

Oh right, Qalc had been making assumptions about her earlier.

“His muscles.” She said.

As predicted, Qalc scoffed, “Uh-huh, yeah okay. So how’d you figure that then, farmers do a lot of manual labour you know,” he said condescendingly, “People who aren’t martial artists can have muscles.”

She smiled brightly, “Yes, that’s true! But his muscles didn’t make sense. Not for a farmer at least! Which isn’t to say farmers aren’t strong! But the way he was built was different, like… people who lift a lot of heavy things like with farm work tend to build a lot of core strength and stuff. But he looked um…”

She always had trouble putting things into words right. She didn’t know how to explain that the Profesor's dad looked built for maneuverability and action. Not so much for slow and steady continuous work.

“He looked like people who do martial arts,” she settled with, in the end, “I grew up by a dojo and he looked like people I knew. His build, I mean.”

Qalc looked at her sceptically, “Okay, whatever.”

Rolag deflated a bit, before deciding to double down on annoying him after the apparent dismissal.

“And him being a martial artist makes it even more likely that he’s actually the Great Saiyaman’s alter ego!” She said triumphantly, and then decided to walk ahead while he spluttered indignantly. 

She giggled as she walked away, taking the victory for what it was.

"At any rate, I think we know why the Professor has the patience of a saint," She added after a moment.

Qalc snorted, "Okay, you have a point there. It sounded like his dad didn't even know what basic algebra was. If I had to spend time around someone with an attention span like that most of my life I'd go crazy."

He looked at her pointedly when he said that, "And speaking of, let's find Penne. I need to hear a voice of reason before I actually seriously start thinking your Farmer-Saiyaman theory has any level of validity."

Rolag pouted and said, "Well if that's too out-there for you, maybe the Professor himself is Saiyaman?"

Qalc narrowed his eyes at her, "Okay, now I _know_ you're just trying to troll me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So having a new puppy/house training/general training has been very time consuming lately. And I won't apologise for focusing on my doggo instead of updating, but I admit I was distracted longer than originally intended. But when time loses all meaning in lockdown, how can you even tell?  
> I have not fully proofread this chapter so please let me know if I messed something up, I'm leaving to go to the vet to get my puppy's next vaccines in a few minutes and I wanted to post this before I left.


	7. The Family

When Gohan came to his next appointment with Fan, he didn’t start with what they’d been discussing previously. There was clearly something else on his mind.

“So my dad asked me to go on a trip with him and my brother during the school break.”

“And how do you feel about that?” Fan asked him.

“A bit mixed really,” Gohan sighed, “Videl and Pan aren’t going, and I don’t like being away from them for that long. But given that I just… have this feeling something like is going to go wrong on the trip, because it always does, I’m glad that they won’t be there. My dad actually wanted me to bring Pan along with as well. He thought taking her with us to an unknown alien planet would be a good time to bond with his granddaughter.”

That gave Fan pause. Did Gohan just say alien planet? 

“I’m sorry to interrupt Gohan, but did you say your trip would be to another planet?”

“Oh! Yeah. My dad had been speaking to Bulma about something she’d seen on her interstellar monitor. Some planet my dad hasn’t been to, I think he spoke to some Kai about it and was very excited about the possibility of something. I’ve been off-world a few times before when I was younger, I don’t know if I’ve ever actually mentioned that to you?” He asked, scratching his head, “But speaking honestly… None of the trips actually went very well. Quite the opposite really. And… some of it was quite bad. And the fact that my dad is this excited about it… It doesn’t exactly set my mind at ease, y’know?”

Fan forced herself back into professionality, and asked him, “No, that’s an entirely reasonable response as a father. It’s entirely sensible to keep your daughter away from such a risky trip, especially at her age. Would you like to tell me about what happened when you travelled to alien planets previously?”

Gohan chuckled, sounding tired, “Well, it wasn’t fun that’s for sure. We went to get the Namekian Dragon Balls to help Earth at the time, but when we got to the planet it turned out an intergalactic dictator called Frieza was looking for the same thing we were. A lot of people died.”

Gohan fell silent.

“That sounds like a very traumatic experience,” Fan said gently, “I can’t imagine what it might have been like for you going through that.”

“It wasn’t all bad though!” Gohan said with forced cheer, “I did meet my best friend Dende there! Their sibling and parent were... murdered while we were watching, and I couldn’t… stop myself from getting involved after that. I attacked. I was so angry. Krillin grabbed Dende and we ran for it.”

Gohan broke off. Fan could see ripples forming across her tea, and carefully put the cup down on the side table, away from her.

Fan took a calming breath for herself, but before she could speak Gohan added, “Not to make it sound that bad or anything! I mean, the Dragon Ball’s did bring them back later!”

Fan closed her eyes for a moment and calmed herself again.

“Just because someone could be brought back, it doesn’t make the experience any less traumatic. You still watched people die. Your friend Dende still watched their family die. That would still be horribly traumatic, regardless of what came after.”

Gohan shifted nervously, and changed the subject, “But anyway, I don’t think my dad really understands the risks. He only arrived on the planet later, when we were fighting Frieza’s elite Ginyu Force. And he beat them pretty easily.”

Fan frowned, “Did you tell your father what happened before, when he did arrive?”

Gohan sighed and shook his head, “My dad had a pretty unconventional childhood, and that’s not even getting into him being a full Saiyan... But I think he normalised so much of the things in his life to such an extent that he doesn’t even realise the effects that passing those things down might have on others who... don’t have the same sort of mindset as him. Even back then I didn’t think there was much point in telling him more than the basics. I didn’t know if he could really understand.”

Before Fan could say anything else, Gohan quickly added on, redirecting the conversation away, “And while I love my dad, and do understand why he is the way he is, I... wouldn’t want Pan to go through any of what I went through as a kid. Which is why she's not coming on this trip. Just in case.”

Gohan tried to lighten the situation more, “I’m not saying I’m going to wrap her in cotton wool or anything though! She's a durable kid, and loves playing rough! She loves play-fights!"

Fan smiled at how he genuinely lit up when he started talking about his daughter, “I’m sure. You’re a very attentive father. It's clear you feel strongly about her safety, and that's entirely reasonable. Especially given your own experiences.”

Gohan looked distant for a moment, a small smile still on his face as he thought about something.

"You know… after our dad went away for those seven years, I tried to protect my younger brother from as much as I could while he was growing up too, same as I’m trying to do with Pan now." He said, "I wanted his childhood to feel safe. Secure. I didn’t want him to see the sort of things I was exposed to as a kid. I wanted to protect him from that, for as long as I could at least. I hope it helped, he was definitely a much happier kid than I was growing up! But how much of that is just who he naturally is I don’t know.”

Fan nodded sympathetically, "It must have been difficult, helping your mother to raise your brother for those seven years. It sounds like you took a lot of responsibility onto yourself at the time. And that wasn't fair to you or your brother."

“Don’t get me wrong!” Gohan added, waving his hands in front of him, “My brother is a lot more like my dad than I am, especially when he was younger, it felt like he bounced back from everything that came at him. And my dad’s a good man, probably one of the best! And he loves both of us! He just doesn’t really understand things like... potential long term ramifications.”

"How do you mean?" Fan asked, tilting her head slightly, “You said something similar earlier, about how his mindset might be as a result of his own unusual upbringing, but why do you think he wouldn’t understand?”

"I mean, I think he would do his best to try to understand if I brought it up,” Gohan said with a tired smile, “But what it comes down to is, well.... When he gets into a fight and is injured, the pain only seems to go as long and as deep as it takes for his physical wounds to heal. I don't think he realizes people could end up with non-physical side effects."

There was a moment of silence as Fan took this in and Gohan sat quietly with a sad smile on his face.

“It would have been tough growing up like that,” Fan told him seriously, after the moment passed, “Even knowing your dad loves you. Not having your parents understanding that your emotional needs are different from their own can be a very challenging situation to deal with. During the time I've known you one thing that's been very clear to me is that the two of you have had a very difficult time understanding each other.”

Gohan laughed, “Isn’t that the truth! And I can’t really blame him, he’s a Saiyan through and through. And I’m not.”

"But," Fan added, "Neither of you has given up trying. Your father keeps trying to reach out with things like this trip, and you keep doing the same by accepting his invitations and wanting to spend time with him. You're both trying, regardless of your actual differences. Which is why I think it would be worth it to let him when things are upsetting and to let him know that things from the past do have an effect on you. You said it yourself, that he would try to understand."

Gohan sighed, and his smile dipped, "You know, maybe you're right. But when we spend time together we both try to keep it light, I can't really think of a time we ever spoke about something like that. I wouldn't know how to even begin bringing it up."

"You don't have to just walk up to him and drop your heaviest thoughts on him next time you see him," Fan said, trying to lighten the mood a bit, "You don't have to rush into a discussion. Just let it happen naturally. Next time a situation that you're not comfortable with comes up, let him know and hold to your personal boundaries. Explain to him why something's upset you when it happens. That's all I'm asking." 

Gohan nodded slightly, but remained quiet and thoughtful.

Fan decided to direct the conversation towards a seemingly lighter topic, to try and grasp something that seemed to be hanging loose in the discussion from earlier.

“Why don't you tell me about what it was like growing up with your brother, what did you two like to do for fun?" She asked.

Gohan's smile became more genuine. 

"Goten. He's a great kid. I would take him hiking and fishing all the time when he was younger. He's always been a very cheerful kid, he actually reminded me a lot of my dad."

And there it was again, the comparison. She'd noticed it earlier as well.

"How did you feel about that, him being so similar, with your dad gone?" Fan asked.

"I didn't resent Goten for it or anything,” Gohan said quickly, “I couldn't even if I wanted to. He and my dad both have that in common as well. He also wanted to learn how to fight almost the moment he could talk. Which was also just so much like dad."

Gohan laughed at the memory.

“How did you feel about that?” Fan asked him, “I know you don’t like fighting.”

"My mother taught him, not me. So I wasn’t involved in that much until way later.” Gohan said, “Honestly, my mother always hated the idea of me fighting. Which… I understand better now as an adult. I never really had the temperament for it and I guess she could tell. But she seemed to know it would be pointless to try and stop Goten. He'd clearly inherited the Saiyan drive to fight when he was a kid, and the promise of training was the only way she could get him to focus on anything else at the time.”

Fan looked at him and asked, “What about now, does your brother still train? Does he have any other interests outside of that?”

Gohan looked at her and nodded, “Oh, yes! Whenever he goes to hang out with his best friend they’re always getting up to things! They are always getting into trouble or training together. I don’t see him as often now though, what with moving out and getting married and Pan and everything else. But my mother says he does like to read and he goes on dates quite a lot. She also told me the reason he cut his hair a few years back was to look, well, less like our dad.”

Fan laughed, “He sounds like a perfectly ordinary teenager to me! And more than that, it sounds like he’s trying to find his own identity as well.”

She looked at him and explained, “You should try to remember, he’s a hybrid as well, same as you. As much as he reminds you of your father, you need to remember that in many ways he’s in the same boat as you. Just because he reminds you of him it doesn’t mean he has the same mindset. He's his own person.”

Gohan nodded, wide-eyed, “You’re right, I guess I didn’t realise I was looking at things like that! Goten always came off as very self-assured when he was a kid, but I guess I haven’t really spent enough time with him the last few years, outside of when he volunteered to help me with my research, to really know who he really is now.”

Fan smiled, “Maybe you could spend more time with him. Not for research or for training, just to hang out and talk. It sounds like you really cared about him growing up. While drifting apart is a normal part of life, it doesn’t mean it has to be something inevitable. This trip with your father and him might be just what all of you need to get the opportunity to really understand each other.”

“You’re right–”

Gohan was cut off by his phone ringing. He made a face and apologised, before pulling it out and checking the screen.

“It’s my mother,” he said, “I need to answer it.”

Fan made a motion for him to do so, while she checked her notes and the clock. She still wanted to get back to the topic from the start of the session, and the clear trauma he had from previously going to space. Now that they had circled back around to the topic of the trip... 

“Hi mom what’s–” Gohan was cut off.

Fan looked up to watch the one-sided conversation with interest once it got underway.

Fan could hear a frustrated tone on the other end of the line speaking non-stop as Gohan made noises at presumably the right moments. 

After a few minutes, Gohan said with a sigh, “Okay, yes. I understand. I’ll pick him up for you. Yes, I’ll pass on what they say. Okay, bye.”

When he hung up the phone, Gohan let out a huge sigh.

“Is everything alright?” Fan asked.

“I’m going to have to cut today short, unfortunately,” he told her apologetically, “It seems my brother and his friend accidentally destroyed their school’s gymnasium. I need to go and pick him up from school for my mother. Apparently, he’s been suspended.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I’m gonna give Nakekian’s gender-neutral pronouns. Can’t stop me. They’re an asexually reproducing, agender alien species that had no exposure to the idea that other alien species have other options until they got invaded. Piccolo, however, since he was born on earth and grew up on earth I’m gonna stick with he/him pronouns since he’d grown up with them as an option.

**Author's Note:**

> I would also love to hear the thoughts of others, and am very willing to incorporate ideas people would like to see, If it doesn't contradict what I've already written that is... but even then, I would still love to hear them!


End file.
